Stress fracture sidelines Anderson

According to his teammates, James Anderson gave no indication there was anything physically wrong when he left the AT&T Center on Wednesday after making two 3-pointers and scoring seven points in the Spurs’ 107-95 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers.

When Anderson got out of bed on Thursday morning, the pain in his right foot told him otherwise.

Examination of the foot revealed a stress fracture in his right metatarsal, the long bone on the outside of the forefoot. Anderson is scheduled for surgery on Tuesday to insert a pin in the bone.

The Oklahoma State product, the first rookie in Spurs history to make at least one 3-pointer in his first six games, is expected to be out for eight weeks. No one, Anderson included, could pinpoint a time when the injury became evident.

“Usually, a stress fracture isn’t an individual event,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “It would be difficult to say when it happened. It usually happens over time.”

Anderson, the 2009-10 Big 12 Conference Player of the Year who was the 20th selection in June’s NBA draft, was averaging 7.0 points per game and had made 10 of 20 3-point shots.

“It’s bad, because he was playing well,” said point guard Tony Parker. “He was giving us great energy off the bench. We’re definitely going to miss him.”

Temple waived: Cutting players never has been easy for Popovich, but some moves are more difficult than others.

Waiving reserve guard Garrett Temple, as the Spurs did Thursday morning, was among the most difficult because everyone in the organization, Popovich included, had gained a sincere affection for the second-year player from LSU.

“Cutting people is always a tough thing,” Popovich said. “It never gets easier. It’s only the degree of difficulty, based on the character of the individual, and Garrett’s one of the best. He’s a super kid and he’ll land someplace and he’ll be OK. But it’s always difficult.”

Temple was signed to the Spurs’ roster on March 23 last season after brief stints with the Rockets and Kings. He averaged 6.2 points in 13 games and started five games when Parker was injured late in the season.

He had played only seven minutes in three games this season and had been inactive for the past three games.

As if to underscore Popovich’s assessment of Temple’s character, Temple responded to the news with a classy pronouncement to friends and fans on his Twitter account: “I want to thank the Spurs for giving me the opportunity. I enjoyed playing in front of these fans. They will be missed. ’Preciate the love.”

Temple and his father, Collis, who played 24 games for the ABA Spurs in 1974-75, are the only father-son duo to have played for the Spurs.

Mike Monroe

5 Responses

Pass on Ager and see what Gee gives us. He’s 6’6 and is super athletic, needs to develop a more consistent jumper and has shown flashes of defensive prowess however it still needs to be developed more as per a scouting report. Let’s see what he can bring. I’m optimistic.

I think the best plan of action until JA comes back is to use Gee at the backup SF. Don’t really know what to expect from him since he didn’t get much PT during preseason and hasn’t played during the regular season, but he does know the system and is athletic so let’s see what he can do. This is actually a great opportunity for him to show the Spurs he belongs on the roster. If it doesn’t work out then they can go with a 3 guard lineup like they have in the past. The FA market for SF’s is pretty weak so I doubt the Spurs bring anyone else in.

Maurice Ager was just waived by the TWOLVES. he’s a good sized g/f at 6’5
maybe we could use him at fill in til JA is back. He may not be the scorer that JA is, but he’s played pretty good defense. what do you all think

We find this out right after cutting Simmons… D’oh! Boy I hope Gee is ready to take some of these minutes… How big is Gee anyway? Well, with a back to back this weekend… sure hope his game is big enough.

I was really enjoying Anderson. I’ve been impressed with his quick fit into this complicated system…